‘The Singing Revolution’ | 2 ½ stars
By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
A basic fact of human affairs is that a radical change in the social structure is accompanied by violence.
Except in the little Baltic nation of Estonia, apparently one of the coolest places on the face of the Earth.
Maureen Castle Tusty and James Tusty’s “The Singing Revolution” (opening today at the Glenwood Arts) spans a century of Estonian history, creating a portrait of a people who endured nearly incomprehensible repression, genocide and enslavement. Yet the Estonians never lost a sense of their national identity despite the brutal efforts of various occupiers.
Believe it or not, they kept it together by singing.
Drawing from a wealth of archival materials and interviews with contemporary Estonians and an excellent narration by Linda Hunt, this inspiring and often deeply moving documentary paints a harrowing picture.
The little country was alternately occupied by the Russians, the Germans and the Soviet Union. Every time it changed hands the new conquerors went about eliminating anyone who had cooperated with the previous occupiers.
The Nazis and the Soviets forbade anything like public discussion of political issues. But how do you keep people from singing?
Estonians sing the way the citizens of other countries are soccer mad. It’s a universal passion. A majority of Estonians participate in choirs, and since the turn of the last century one of the country’s biggest events has been Laulupidu, a song festival. Held every four years, these events might feature 20,000 singers on the stage and 300,000 listeners spread out in a gigantic amphitheater.
Ostensibly these fests were promoted as a celebration of the country’s folk heritage. The Soviets tried to turn them into homages to Lenin and Stalin. But seemingly innocuous folk songs packed a wealth of pro-independence sentiment for everyday Estonians.
At the ’69 fest the Soviet authorities banned the singing of a patriotic song that citizens regarded as their national anthem. But at the end of the program, as the conductor turned to leave, the massed choirs spontaneously began singing that song. Then the audience joined in.
There was nothing the Soviets could do … you can hardly pull the plug on 300,000 singing people.
For the next 20 years the Estonian freedom movement percolated just below the surface of normal life. And in the late ’80s when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced he was opening up society, that movement was poised to push the limits of Soviet tolerance.
It almost came down to a shooting war, but the Soviets blinked. Now Estonia is a free and independent nation.
If “The Singing Revolution” were a fictional film it would be dismissed as a pie-in-the-sky fantasy. But it’s all true.
‘THE SINGING REVOLUTION’ ★★★
Director: Maureen Castle Tusty and James Tusty
Cast: Linda Hunt (narration)
No MPAA rating. Contains archival images of executions and war violence; some dialogue in Estonian and Russian with subtitles
Running time: 1:34
Filmmaker visit
Director James Tusty will be in Kansas City today for the opening of “The Singing Revolution” at the Glenwood Arts Theatre, 95th and Metcalf. He will introduce the movie at the 5:15 and 8 p.m. shows and conduct Q&A sessions after each screening.
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